Paramount May Accept Another Impossible Mission with Cruise

It looks like, in the battle between Tom Cruise and Paramount, that Tom Cruise has won. Sort of. In a recent interview, Sumner Redstone, owner of Viacom, which owns Paramount, says he’s no longer “opposed” to doing another “Mission: Impossible” movie with Tom Cruise returning as Ethan Hunt. Pretty surprising stuff, especially coming from the guy who severed ties with Cruise in 2006, calling Cruise’s public behavior (jumping on Oprah’s couch, marrying a woman young enough to be his daughter, giving birth to an alien baby, etc) “not acceptable”.

Sumner Redstone, the executive chairman of cable network and movie studio owner Viacom Inc, will not oppose the casting of Tom Cruise in the next installment of the “Mission: Impossible” movie franchise.

“That’s really up to Brad Grey, who runs Paramount, he will make the decision,” Redstone said on the sidelines of Seoul Digital Forum on Tuesday.

“What I can say is, I consider Tom Cruise a great actor and a good friend, and if Paramount decides to go ahead with him, I will not object.”

You gotta wonder what brought this on. It’s not like Paramount is suffering, dollar-wise. According to the article, the company reported “a forecast-beating 33 percent rise in quarterly net profit”. Maybe ol Sumner just feels bad about throwing Cruisey under the bus a few years back.